1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of apparatus used for cleaning truck tires and, more particularly, apparatus for removing dirt, gravel, small rocks or foreign material from tires and tire treads of off-road trucks before the trucks are driven onto public roads and highways.
2. Background Discussion
It is a common occurrence for automobiles frequently driven on public highways and freeways to have their windshields pitted or even cracked by dirt, gravel or small rocks impacting the windshield from vehicles ahead of the automobiles. Although such dirt, gravel or rocks sometimes fall from truck beds or trailers of semi-trucks, they are more often either thrown from the pavement by the vehicle tires or are thrown from the tires, usually truck tires, where they have been lodged in the tire treads. However, even when thrown up from the pavement by vehicle tires, the dirt, gravel and rocks are commonly present on the pavement as a result of being carried onto the roads or highways lodged in truck tires. As can be appreciated, such damage to windshields, in addition to being an annoyance, particularly in the case of new automobiles, results in costly repairs when the windshields are pitted or cracked in a manner adversely affecting the vision of drivers and the windshields have to be replaced. If such replacement is covered by the car owner's automobile insurance, then the insurance premiums may be increased by the insurance company.
Of course, in some instances even a relatively small stone thrown from a truck's tire into the windshield of a following automobile can cause an accident if the impact of the stone against the windshield, which often has a sharp snapping sound like that of a gun shot, causes the driver to flinch and momentarily loose control of his or her automobile. In such an instance, if the truck causing the accident can be identified, the truck owner may be liable for substantial legal damages, especially if it can be proven that a stone or rock from the owner's truck was responsible for an accident.
Because of the serious problems that can be caused by rocks ejected at high speed from vehicle tires, especially truck tires having deep treads, some localities have ordinances requiring trucks that pick up loads off-road (for example, at sand or gravel pits) have dirt and particularly rocks removed from the truck tires before the trucks are permitted on roads and highways. Failure to comply with such ordinances may subject the truck owners to fines if highway patrol officers notice a truck throwing rocks or dirt from their truck tires. Even in the absence of such ordinances, however, drivers of trucks that throw rocks from their tires (or drop rocks from their load) on public highways may be cited by local law enforcement.
Even in the absence of ordinances such as mentioned above and even without worry of being cited, and even where there may be little concern of causing accidents, many truck companies or owners are still concerned about damage to their business or reputation if their trucks drop or discharge rocks and dirt onto public streets and highways.
For these and other reasons, in many localities drivers of trucks that may pick up dirt and rocks in their truck tires have to or want to remove as much dirt and as many rocks as possible from their truck tires. On the other hand, time normally equates to money and going from tire to tire with a manual tool, such as a screwdriver, to pry rocks and stones out of each tire of, for example, an "18 wheeler" or to scrape dirt off tires is a laborious and time consuming task and one that may, accordingly, often be slighted by truck drivers who are in a hurry to deliver a load.
The present inventor has, accordingly invented an apparatus that causes dirt, rocks and stones to be dislodged from truck tires (as well as from other vehicle tires, if needed or required) without an individual having to dislodge individual rocks or stones from the tire treads or scrape dirt from the tires.